The present invention relates to an applicator device for applying a mass in the form of a stick, in particular a cosmetic mass.
Applicator devices for cosmetic preparations, in the form of pencils, preferably with a rotating mechanism with which the stick mass is introduced into a front portion of the rotation mechanism and can be twisted axially out of same, or is disposed such that it can be twisted forwards and backwards, are well-known. Mention can be made in this regard of DE 32 15 215 A1, DE 198 51 219 A1, DE 37 28 427 C1, DE 38 35 679 C2 and DE 44 45 230 C2, for example, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,311 A and U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,197 A.
These applicator devices are used as “liners”, e.g. as lip liners, eye liners, eyebrow pencils or as cover-up sticks applied to certain points. Such “liners” usually have stick diameters ranging from 2 to 5 mm, with a useful length of the stick ranging from 35 to 60 mm. This means that applicator devices of the aforementioned kind have substantially different dimensions (and thus substantially different handling problems as well) from conventional lipsticks with stick diameters ranging between 10 and 15 mm and with stick lengths of between 35 and 45 mm.
A generic applicator device generally has the shape of an elongate cylinder. A front portion of the applicator device must be sufficiently long to accommodate the stick mass to be applied, and in the rear portion of the applicator device there is usually a threaded spindle which is non-rotatingly yet axially displaceably mounted, and which cooperates with a threaded portion in the front portion and which can push the stick mass out of the applicator device.
In applicator devices in the field of cosmetics, the stick mass consists of a more or less soft cosmetic material which is to be lightly applied to human skin and the like. In most cases, such cosmetic masses are not rigid bodies, but thixotropic preparations that are deformed or even liquefied when exposed to compressive or shearing forces. An intermediate member is therefore needed between the threaded spindle and the stick mass, in order to convert the relative rotational movement of the pusher spindle into an exclusively axial movement for the stick mass. Push members or stick holders that are rigidly connected to the stick mass, but which cooperate with the threaded spindle via a ball-and-socket joint are known from the prior art.
The structure of an applicator device known from the prior art requires that the rear portion be dimensioned sufficiently long, as the threaded spindle must essentially be accommodated there with a “net length” that is sufficient to convey the entire stick mass out of the applicator device in the course of use, if possible. At the end of the rotary spindle, there must also be a fixing member which cooperates with corresponding means inside the rear portion in order to prevent the threaded spindle from rotating with the front portion. The threaded spindle must also include the intermediate member described in the foregoing and the ball-and-socket joint or some other adequate means for decoupling any rotation. The addition of these sub-members results in a substantial total length of the applicator device, as can be seen, for example, from the U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,311 A and U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,197 A patents mentioned above.
One possible object of the present invention is to provide an applicator device of the kind initially specified, in which the rear portion can be designed more freely, particularly with regard to its length, than is possible in the prior art due to the length of the threaded spindle, which must suffice to convey the entire stick mass as completely as possible out of the holding member in the course of use.